Noxon and Thompson Falls form co-op baseball team

Two ballparks. Two Montana towns. Two groups of baseball hungry young men.

Mix it all together, add some sunshine and there it is...a new high school baseball program in Sanders County.

After more than a year of planning, hoping and working, players, coaches, fans and residents of Noxon and Thompson Falls have joined forces to produce a co-op baseball program in this, the second year of sanctioned high school baseball in the state.

Friday afternoon, under blue skies, bright sunshine and temperatures hovering just north of the 50 degree line, 23 players concluded their first week of workouts and practice on the not yet completed field being put together just south of the T Falls football field.

The fences are up and some bleachers have been installed, but there is still much to be done before the T Falls site can host a baseball game.

So, for this first season of play, the teams will host home games at the former Babe Ruth ballpark in Noxon. That field is nearly ready to play, with some stubborn patches of snow slowing pre-season maintenance work.

But that field is expected to be ready enough for practices to move to Noxon this week.

The co-op team opens the season on the road March 23 against powerful Polson, a defending state champion from last year.

“That first game will be a good test of where we are and what we need to work on,” said head coach Lucas MacArther. “They are a very good team”.

If energy and enthusiasm translates to wins, the Red Devils have a chance to win some games this year.

Fifteen of the players are from Noxon and eight are from Thompson Falls. Among those are some of the best athletes from both schools, like Bryson McCormick from T Falls and Ricky Williams from Noxon.

Some, including Williams, will also compete with each school’s track and field team. Williams, a 6-1 junior, finished third in the state Class C high jump event last Spring.

“There are some guys who will do both sports,” said assistant coach Sean Kelly. “That was a concern when this idea came up. Would one sport draw too many kids from the other”.

Backed by a vocal and energetic corps of parents and fans in Noxon, the school Board okayed the creation of a baseball program last year, but not in time to put a team on the field.

In the interim, a co-op arrangement was approved when Thompson Falls expressed interest in playing.

“It’s early in the year,” MacArthur said, “but I think we have some good players, including pitchers who can help us this year”.

The two towns and their fans are hoping the arrangement will produce positive results like the football co-op agreement between St. Regis and Mullan, Idaho, which has produced several winning seasons in a row.

Noxon and T Falls are approximately 37 miles apart, the same basic distance between St. Regis and Mullan, which up until this season hosted games and most practices in Mullan. The difference is a high mountain pass, Lookout Pass, that separates Idaho from Montana.

The teams will keep the Noxon “Red Devils” mascot, in part to head off uniform cost changes should Thompson Falls go it alone in coming years. A fan described as a “friend” of the Noxon program recently donated $6,000 to purchase new baseball uniforms.

Thompson Falls athletic director Jake Mickelson said the group of T Falls players on the team are very enthusiastic about the new sport.

“I know the T Falls guys who are participating are loving it,” Mickelson said. “I think if participation starts to pick up in future years, more plans would be put in place to make the T Falls field more of a home to the fledgling program”.

As the field in Noxon takes final shape, including installation of a new pitching mound, Noxon will be the home ballpark.

The new team’s first “home” game is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2, in Noxon versus Plains-Hot Springs. Game time is set for 3 p.m. at the Noxon facility, which is east of the high school.

Coach MacArthur thinks his guys will be ready to go.

“Right now we have a lot of players with a strong desire to play,” he said. “They wanted this, and now they have it. They are not taking it lightly”.

For now, MacArthur added, the team has a simple goal.

“I need to put together a competitive baseball team that can hold its own against the rest of the state. We have good ballplayers and are excited about the opportunity to show Sanders County that baseball is alive and well out here”.

    A pre-practice session with the coaches begins a practice at the T Falls baseball field last week on a sun splashed day. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
  

    Players assemble the portable batting cage prior to a practice this past week in Thompson Falls. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
  

    Players from the Noxon-Thompson Falls co-op high school baseball team loosening their throwing arms during a practice opening drill this past week in T Falls. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)